Isaiah 61:10 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Society is much more informal than it used to be. I see people dress like bums for job interviews and have waitstaff at fancy restaurants address me and my wife as "you guys."

I personally believe that not everything is internal, and one way to show respect for others is to go to some trouble to look and be nice. The good news is that if you are one of the few dinosaurs who actually believe this rubbish, you get treated like you're someone special.

Isaiah 61:10 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Wait....I've heard this somewhere before...

Oh yes, it was in Pulp Fiction, right before Samuel Jackson offed that punk in the apartment.

I'm a recovering Catholic myself, sorry to hear that the same old nonsense is going on, but not surprised.

On a side note, one reason I love the TDF is that no one ever thanks God for helping them win a stage, although with 2 American teams this year, it's not out of the question now.

On a side note, one reason I love the TDF is that no one ever thanks God for helping them win a stage, although with 2 American teams this year, it's not out of the question now.

If one of the Yank teams wins, expect them to thank the military as well. I'm not sure why this is required at so many sporting events, but it is.

I always found it strange that during the Cold War, we always criticized the commies for holding military parades and getting people to make declarations of allegiance at the drop of a hat. Now the Cold War is over, we've been going nuts on this stuff.

Reminds me of the time I was told I have to wear a dress/skirt if I wanted to be a guest at someone else's church. My nice dressy slacks outfit wasn't good enough. So I ended up not attending if a DRESS was more desired rather than my quest for religious teaching.

Originally Posted by Buddha

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

Originally Posted by making

Please dont outsmart the censor. That is a very expensive censor and every time one of you guys outsmart it it makes someone at the home office feel bad. We dont wanna do that. So dont cleverly disguise bad words.

Reminds me of the time I was told I have to wear a dress/skirt if I wanted to be a guest at someone else's church. My nice dressy slacks outfit wasn't good enough. So I ended up not attending if a DRESS was more desired rather than my quest for religious teaching.

Yep, organized religion these days is more about the organization than the religion.... Just my opinion, though.

Dutch relatives and mother, who speaks 6 languages. Granted, she doesn't watch as much as I do, and can only certify never having heard an Italian, Spaniard, Dutchman, Frenchman, German or Brit thank Big J, but I'll take her word for it. Still reads plenty of foreign newspapers, too, never read a quote to that effect either.

[/QUOTE]1 american team, and don't even try and claim that columbia is an american team.[/QUOTE]

I'll take Bob Stapleton's word. Good enough for me, especially if the team is at the forefront of the cleanup. I'd be proud to have an American owner help turn things around.

I suspect most of the Apostles, and likely Jesus, would have found it difficult to dress up for church. Paul said that they were often barely clothed, in rages, without a home. (Corinthians)

You might want to read James 1 too, about honoring rich people, and treating the poor with contempt.

I totally disagree, as you probably can tell. I think people should come as they are to God, we have enough hypocrisy in churches. We want people to dress up for us (it sure isn't for God, his dress code is no clothes... ). Then we bemoan that people don't go to church. I think I would be thrilled that people show up casual, instead as though they are going to a theater or something. After all, when I hang out with my friends, it isn't in a three piece suit.

I suspect most of the Apostles, and likely Jesus, would have found it difficult to dress up for church. Paul said that they were often barely clothed, in rages, without a home. (Corinthians)

You might want to read James 1 too, about honoring rich people, and treating the poor with contempt.

I totally disagree, as you probably can tell. I think people should come as they are to God, we have enough hypocrisy in churches. We want people to dress up for us (it sure isn't for God, his dress code is no clothes... ). Then we bemoan that people don't go to church. I think I would be thrilled that people show up casual, instead as though they are going to a theater or something. After all, when I hang out with my friends, it isn't in a three piece suit.

But, if your idea of church is theater, carry on.

I could not have said it better.
Only thing I think I would add, there's a scripture that tells us not to worry how we are dressed. God clothed all the flowers of the fields and the animals in the world, and they don't worry about whether its their Sunday finest. We are to be of similar nature.

Reminds me of the time I was told I have to wear a dress/skirt if I wanted to be a guest at someone else's church. My nice dressy slacks outfit wasn't good enough. So I ended up not attending if a DRESS was more desired rather than my quest for religious teaching.

Amen Sister! Preach it!

When I was a minister, I made sure everyone knew I cared not at all how people dress, just how they behaved. After all, I have seen more than my share of people dressed to the hilt, but inside were disgusting.

When you think about it, the enemies of Jesus, the pharisees, were big time into appearance, and Jesus called them whitewashed tombs.

My chucrch is particularly particular about this and has had a good bit of dicussion on this subject, the way we look at it is as JoelS said, we will not go up to a visitor wearing a t-shirt and torn up jean shorts "to come back well dressed or dont come back at all", but the regular attenders or church members are asked, "if you were in court you would show respect to a judge who is a man, so if you before God or others who are trying, you should show Him and them as much respect"

But what if someone does not have the means to purchase clothing that others perceive as "dress clothes"? There are homeless people in my area who do the best they can with what they have. Does this mean they aren't allowed to step foot into a church?

Originally Posted by Buddha

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

Originally Posted by making

Please dont outsmart the censor. That is a very expensive censor and every time one of you guys outsmart it it makes someone at the home office feel bad. We dont wanna do that. So dont cleverly disguise bad words.

I suspect most of the Apostles, and likely Jesus, would have found it difficult to dress up for church. Paul said that they were often barely clothed, in rages, without a home. (Corinthians)

You might want to read James 1 too, about honoring rich people, and treating the poor with contempt.

I totally disagree, as you probably can tell. I think people should come as they are to God, we have enough hypocrisy in churches. We want people to dress up for us (it sure isn't for God, his dress code is no clothes... ). Then we bemoan that people don't go to church. I think I would be thrilled that people show up casual, instead as though they are going to a theater or something. After all, when I hang out with my friends, it isn't in a three piece suit.

But, if your idea of church is theater, carry on.

Its not about looking nice, its about not distracting attention to yourself and showing that you care enough about others and your purpose there, the rich people in churches dress up no more than the poor people in our church, this is not what that verse refers to. In the early times or the Christian church, the wealthy would be given better seats, be greeted warmly at the doors, better respected, and etc. while the poor were hidden packed into the back areas and ignored. Your view of church has become twisted, you should talk to another pastor. (yes i know your were)

But what if someone does not have the means to purchase clothing that others perceive as "dress clothes"? There are homeless people in my area who do the best they can with what they have. Does this mean they aren't allowed to step foot into a church?

Certainly not, the bible specifically says that those are the people that it is the church's duty to help, and if they will not accept help with food or clothing then we welcome them very warmly and certainly no worse (sometimes even more friendly) than all the regular attenders.